Lenten Aspirations

Helloooo!  Now that Lent has begun and I’m now comfortable with the change of pace, I thought that I’d share with you some my resolutions for this year, including some ideas to keep Christ in this holy season.  At the end of this post, I’ll also share one of my favorite meatless dishes—Japanese tamagoyaki. ^_^

Resolutions

Sacrifices

·         Limited use of Facebook, YouTube, Pinterest, and recreational internet in general

·         No Twitter, Tumblr, or Google+

·         Limit listening to any music, except classical/instrumental

·         No movies, except with the family

·         No video games

·         No Starbucks drinks

·         Avoid desserts and treats, except on Sunday

Things to do

·         1 hour of spiritual reading and/or meditation per day

·         attend Mass as often as possible

·         visits to the Blessed Sacrament

·         Stations of the Cross on Fridays

·         3-decade rosary on Saturdays

·         observe traditional fasting rule as much as possible

You can never do too much for Jesus!

In addition to the three books I listed in my February Favorites blog post, I’ve added three more to my Lenten reading repertoire: On Loving God by St. Bernard of Clairvaux, Introduction to the Devout Life by St. Francis de Sales, and The Ascent of Mt. Carmel by St. John of the Cross. 

Personally, I like to have several “open books” at once, that way I can choose one that suits my mood and/or situation at any particular moment.  I feel that this approach to spiritual reading benefits me most.

…And now, a recipe for you!

Tamagoyaki

This is a very traditional recipe.  You can swap out the vegetables for whatever you like: spinach, mushrooms, cheese—just make sure that it’s all chopped very finely.  (Photo courtesy of Pinterest).

 

3 eggs

1 ½ tblsp milk

1 tblsp minced onion

1 tblsp minced spring onion (green onion)

1 tblsp minced carrot

½ tsp salt

Freshly ground pepper

Canola oil for pan

Beat eggs and milk by hand until thoroughly combined.  Fold in vegetables and seasonings.

Heat a 10-inch nonstick pan to medium-low.  When the pan is hot, brush canola oil over the entire surface.

Instead of trying to explain using my writerly means how to shape this omelet roll, I’ll direct you to this short, very informational video on how to do so.

As shown at the end of the video, let the omelette roll cool before slicing into ¾-inch thick pieces.  Serve with sriracha as a condiment, if desired.

Enjoy~!

I hope you all have a holy and blessed Lenten season!

OCTOBER FAVORITES ♥

Hello everyone!  How are you all doing?  I hope that you are enjoying autumn as much as I am. 

Siiiigh.  October is the most beautiful color ever, isn’t it?

So!  I’ve decided that I want to try new things for my blog…instead of just posting boring updates and event coverage.  I’ve got some fun posts lined up for the next few months.  First on my list of new ideas: monthly favorites!  Because I know you all are just dying to know what I’ve been eating (or in this month’s case, drinking), reading, watching, listening to, and putting on my face.  Right?  Ha ha ha.

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Let us begin with the food/drink category, shall we?  This month it is a tea; my absolute favorite tea for fall.  TAZO’s Baked Cinnamon Apple.

I’ve tried many, many apple teas.  A few were good, and some were just NOPE.  They either were too mild, had too much spice and not enough apple flavor and/or an overwhelming orange peel taste.  This one from Starbucks’ brand TAZO is cinnamon apple perfection.  It’s like autumn packed into a teabag.  I’m on my second box already!

 

A few months ago I talked about my efforts to read more.  Ahem.  Well.  I haven’t been reading much else besides my textbooks, BUT, I did finish one awesome book a few weeks ago.  Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell.

 

Just asdfghjklk.  This book was so ridiculously entertaining and addicting.  Hilarious.  Real.  Fantastically nerdy.  Instead of gushing about it all over again…if any of you are interested, you can read my review of Fangirl here.

 

 

 

On to a TV series.  Nope, it’s not Once Upon a Time, surprisingly!  And it’s not Walking Dead, either!  (Uuuugh.  WHY is this a thing? ಠ_ಠ)  It is, undoubtedly, Lark Rise to Candleford.

What can I say?  Good period dramas are my one weakness!

 

Fans of the show will get that reference.  Bang.  I’m so hilarious.

 

 

 

 

Now then…the moment you all have been waiting for.  Those of you who know me well know what’s coming.  Music.  What I have been listening to non-stop for the past four weeks.  My latest obsession.

K-pop.

 

You just thought of Gangnam Style, didn’t you?  Get that out of your head!  No.  No no no.  I mean SHINee (Taemin is such a cutie patootie! *fangirl*).  I mean Super Junior (I would marry Kyuhyun's voice if I could! ≧◡≦ Good gracious).  Now, I’ve listened to a toooon of k-pop, but those two are still on top of the list for me.  SM Entertainment is doing something right, that’s all I have to say.  It all started with SHINee’s epic Lucifer video, and from there my interest in k-pop exploded like hanabi.  Years ago, when I started watching Anime, I really got into j-pop, and one of my favorite artists was BoA Kwon.  I’ve been listening to her a lot lately as well.

 

K-pop is more than just the glitzy style that might be perceived by a new/casual listener.  Speaking in particular of the aforementioned groups, these guys have REAL TALENT.  They have beautiful, well-trained voices, and they all can dance like bosses.  And, the lyrics and dances aren’t overly sexualized.  I’m really getting quite sick of our mainstream music over here in the U.S.  I rarely listen to the radio anymore.  An awesome new song will pop up every few months maybe.  (*cough* Castle of Glass *cough*)  But still, the song more than likely has smutty lyrics and/or music video despite having a catchy tune. (Just Give Me a Reason, anyone?)

ANY-WAY.  I could probably write a dissertation on this topic, BUT, I’m not going there!

 

Instead, here's some SHINee "A-yo" to brighten up your day.

 

 

 

 

I’ll end my October favorites with a makeup product.  I’ve tried a few new things here and there, including Milani liquid eyeliners and Sleek (UK) eye shadows.  I really love both of those, but my pick for this past month would have to be Revlon Colorstay liquid foundation.  This.  Stuff.  Is.  Awesome.  I don’t know why I had never bought it before, especially since many of my friends love it, and I’ve read/watched so many reviews praising the product.  I’m so glad that I’ve finally gotten around to trying it, because it is without a doubt the best liquid foundation that I’ve used so far.  It is a little pricier than most drugstore foundations, but I think that it’s well worth it.

 

I might write up a review for this product.  Let me know if any of you are interested in that. :-)  And just for your reference: the foundation shade in the crappy photo is Medium Beige.

 

 

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And that concludes my first-ever monthly favorites blog entry!  Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any comments or suggestions for future posts, or if you have questions about any of the things which I have discussed here.  Thanks for reading! ^_^ Happy November, and God bless! ♪ ♫

 

Wordstock 2013

Saturday, October 5^th, 2013

 

I’ve been meaning to write this blog post for over a week now, but due to finals and me catching the plague, it is a bit late.  I apologize for that!

 

 

Now then!  Wordstock!  How had I never been to this before?  How had I never heard of this before?  This year, I only found out about it via one of my favorite authors, Maggie Stiefvater, whom I got to meet at the fair.  But more on that later.

 

 

This annual book fair (the tickets were $7 for a student and $11 for an adult; children were free), is held in Portland at the Oregon Convention Center, which is in itself an incredible thing.  Take a look at these pics of the interior.

 

Books, books, books!  Books everywhere!  Publishing representatives everywhere!  Famous authors everywhere!  At first, I was quite overwhelmed.  But everyone was super friendly, and I gained a ton of useful information on publishing and “getting my name out there.”  I purchased three books at the fair: a used copy of The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick (this has insanely awesome illustrations), The Enchanter Heir by Cinda Williams Chima, and The Dream Thieves by Maggie.  I also acquired a Wordstock tote and a few buttons.

 

 

After wandering about for an hour, Katie, Rach and I decided to grab coffee.  And who did we run into at the coffee shop?  Oh, an old friend.

 

…Cinda Williams Chima!

 

Rach invited Cinda to sit with us, which she did!  Katie and I could barely contain our excitement as we were granted this amazing opportunity to ask her questions about being a writer.  It was a memorable time.  And after Cinda left, Katie and I were totally fangirling.

 

 

Coffee was followed by more wandering (a video game convention was also happening at the convention center on this day…we sat for a bit and people watched…so many Pikachu cosplayers...ha ha ha) and then lunch.  Nothing beats a good burger!

 

 

 

Finally, it was time for the YA book signing to commence.  I got my copies of The Enchanter Heir and The Dream Thieves signed.  It was AWESOME to finally meet Maggie, one of the primary authors who inspired me to write my YA novels.  In fact, I started writing my first book, The Otherkind, after reading Shiver.  And take my word for it…she is just as awesome in real life as she is on her social networks!

 

...Anyway!  Wordstock was an eye-opening experience for me as a writer.  Next year, I intend to stay the night in Portland and attend Sunday's workshops and other events, too.  Hopefully by then, I'll have a book or two to publicize!

 

I have some fun (non-event-related. Ha ha) blog posts coming up...stay tuned!  Thanks for reading. ♥

 

 

 

 

THE DALLES ROAD TRIP

June 1st, 2013


When my writing partner, Katie, heard that fantasy author Cinda Williams Chima was going to be in Oregon, she immediately texted me about it.  And from there we formulated our crazy plan: a three-hour road trip to The Dalles, where Klindt’s books was holding a YA book signing event.  And better yet, our lovely and exuberant friend Rachael decided to tag along for the adventure.

It was an interesting trip.  Let me tell you about it!

Now that I’ve totally freaked you out, let’s start with the night before.  After I had finished everything that I wanted to for that day, I glanced at the clock and realized that it was midnight—and I hadn’t even taken a shower or packed my bags for the trip.

HOLY CRAPMUFFINS!

…And I had to get up at 5:30 in the morning.  Epic facepalm.  I got all my stuff done as quickly as I could, but still didn’t get into bed until 1:45am.  At that point I was like, “Oh well!” I had survived on four hours of sleep before; I could do it again.  YOLO, right?

Anyway, I woke up on schedule and was ready to leave the house by 6:15.  Rach was supposed to come pick me up at 6:30, so we could head on over to Katie’s house and leave from there by 7.  Five to 6:30 I get a text from Rach saying that her car battery had died and her dad had to come out and help her jumpstart it.

My dad would’ve killed me if I had woken him up that early!

Everything turned out fine, though.  Her car came back to life and we left just before 7 as planned.  Score! Omg good thing Katie gave us all that extra time when she planned the trip.  Way to be the smart one in this group.

First priority for this trip?  Coffee, of course!  We stopped in Junction City to raid the Starbucks (okay, not really), get breakfast, and fill up on gas.

 

Then we were on our way!  I felt great!  Excited!  Astronomical!  Who needs sleep?  SLEEP IS OVERRATED.

 

For the first 45 minutes of the trip, Katie and I chatted with Rach about Cinda and her books.  Rach got a little nap in, and during that time Katie and I discussed our own books.  Mwahaha.  The next hour was spent singing along to the radio at the top of our lungs, and composing some pretty awesome (and, well, some pretty terrible ones) harmonies to today’s most popular songs.  Love my choir girls!  Ha ha ha

 

We only made one bathroom break on our way there.  The rest stop that we found ended up being a trailhead for a hike along a really pretty creek.  I would’ve taken pictures of the creek, but I had left my phone and my camera in the car.

 

We started to get really excited when we saw the first The Dalles road sign!  Sorry the photo is so blurry, but hey—give me some credit!  It’s really difficult to take pictures in a fast-moving vehicle!

Soon enough we reached our destination.  As I tweeted, Klindt’s is a perfect little shop in a wonderfully quaint town.  The first thing I noticed when I stepped out of the car was the change of atmosphere.  Like literally, the atmosphere.  The air was thicker and more humid than down south, but no allergies!  Woohoo!

 

 

ANYWAY, Klindt’s.  Just look at the pictures.  This bookstore is amazing, and apparently, the oldest one in Oregon.  I’m in love. ♥

 

And guess who was right there when you entered the store?  CINDA WILLIAMS CHIMA, of course!  My friends and I got there right as the event began, so we some of the first people to come in.  Cinda is just the coolest lady.  Katie and I got to talk to her for a good 15-20 minutes about everything from books, writing, and The Enchanter Heir (eep!) to travelling and Doctor Who.  I serious found it hard to breathe for a moment when she realized that I was that nerdy blogger who had tweeted her a day or two before the event.

 

She remembered me!  I got to hug her!  And talk to her!  And I bought Crimson Crown!  And she signed both that and my beloved copy of The Dragon Heir!  I was what Tumblr calls “internally fangirling.”

 

In all seriousness, though, Cinda has been one of my primary sources of inspiration for writing ever since I started reading her works three years ago.  I am very honored and grateful to have been able to meet her!

I also got to meet Rae Carson, who is the author of The Girl of Fire and Thorns, which I bought and got signed as well.  I had just added that book to my Goodreads to-read list a week before, and I hadn’t even known that she was going to be there.  That was a pleasant surprise.  I can’t wait to read it.

 

Other authors that I got to meet and talk to were Kendare Blake (Anna Dressed in Blood, which is hitting the big screen!) and Danielle Myers (The Last Burning of New London).

 

 

We hung out at the bookstore for an hour, and after checking out we browsed The Dalles on foot for a bit.  Then we stopped at a local park to eat lunch.  To walk off all of those calories, we left the car and walked down main street Dalles to do some more browsing.  I scored a pair of Isaac Mizrahi loafer flats and a purple scarf at a thrift store, but my favorite purchase would be this cute old Pokémon tin that I got for $4.50.  It was taped closed with the price tag, but it was heavy so I knew that something was in it…but I didn’t know what.  Turns out that it was full to the brim with Pokémon cards!  I felt like I had won the lottery!

By late afternoon, we had started the trip back home.  And our not-so-epic quest to find an In-n-Out.  I’m not going to go into to many details therein, because it’s definitely one of those “you had to have been there” sort of stories, but long story short: we had a GPS navigation malfunction and ended up passing up the In-n-Out near Portland and…yeah.  It was disappointing, but we settled for second best (Five Guys, of course).

 

And that’s about it!  The rest of the drive was composed of playing 21 Questions and MASH and snapping random photos of clouds because our iPods ran out of charge.  I tried to take a picture of the Sweet Home, OR road sign (that's where my book, The Otherkind, takes place in the beginning!), but yeah...it didn't happen.  Ah well.

 

We made it home and parted our ways.  Even though it was nearing seven-o-clock, I still couldn’t feel the four hours of sleep.  It didn’t really hit me until about ten!  Yeah, and then I crashed.  Like literally.

 

...That all being said, this was quite a day, and certainly one to remember!  I should write a memoir someday.  That would be fuuuun.